Wood Industry

fast and accurate measurement of moisture

In the wood industry, moisture is a key factor influencing the burning efficiency. But the moisture level in raw material is also a key factor to determine the quality and the price to pay to foresters. The traditional way of measuring moisture is by drying some samples in an oven for 24 to 48 hours. This is a long and tedious process, requiring personnel time and expensive equipment. The results are available with a couple of days delay after delivery and if there is an issue like too much moisture, it is too late as the product is delivered and in stock. This leads to serious stock management issues for the plant and painful discussions with foresters.

The system developed by Prediktor allows a very fast and accurate measurement of moisture at delivery time. The driver (or the plant personnel) can take a few samples and get the moisture measurement within a minute so the decision can be made to accept or refuse the delivery right away.

Both plants and foresters can access the information on line instantly and the price is determined based on the measurement.In case of raw material out of standard specifications (like too much moisture), the plant can issue a refusal of delivery or renegotiate the price.

No more post-delivery arguing with foresters and bad quality material in the stock at the plant.This system has been installed in a major heating plant in Norway for a few years now.It has in Sweden been certified by VMK, a branch of SDC, to be used to determine the value of the moisture in the shipment, and directly validate the payment value for that shipment.

We expect this system to become the standard way of qualifying product quality in the future for the biomass power and heating plants in the Nordic countries.